Abstract:
The present study was carried to determine the prevalence of Hepatitis A virus (HAV) IgM antibody among general population in Hyderabad since January 2002 to December 2011. A total of 4571 subjects were selected and divided into groups on the basis of age. The serum samples were screened for the presence of HAV IgM antibodies (anti-HAV IgM) using a commercially available enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Of the 4571 serum samples, 4257 were negative and 314 (6.87%) were positive for the HAV IgM assay. The disease predominance was more in males (212) with 67.51% compared to females (102) with 32.48%. Anti-HAV seroprevalence was measured for the following age groups: Early (≤20 years), Middle (21-40 years) and Late (≥41 years). Average age-wise IgM-anti-HAV positivity from 2002-2011 was 234 of 314 in ≤20 years, 74.52%), 73 of 314 (21-40 years, 23.24%), and 7 of 314 (≥41 years, 2.22%). The present study will provide insights to the recent epidemiologic features of HAV infection in South India.

Abstract:
Allium cepa is the most common and richest natural source of flavonoids. In this study the extraction of flavonoids quercetin and rutin and the total phenolic compounds were carried out. Optimization of physico-chemical parameters namely effects of different solvents, different solvent percentages, soaking time, different amounts of sample (Skin of Allium cepa) and different pH were studied. For the extraction of quercetin, the optimum results were 80% (v/v), 1d, 1% (w/v) and pH 5.5 respectively. The highest quercetin and rutin concentration for optimized conditions were 185.309 μg/L and 124.69 μg/L respectively and it was found to be 19.412 mg/L for total phenolic content.

Abstract:
In this work, the flow and heat transfer in a long channel composed of a smooth and a corrugated wall filled with two immiscible viscous fluids is studied under laminar flow conditions. Non-linear equations governing the motion have been solved by linearization technique, wherein the flow is assumed to be in two parts; a mean part and a perturbed part. Exact solutions are obtained for the mean part and a perturbed part using long wave approximation. Separate solutions are matched at the interface using suitable matching conditions. The results are presented graphically for various governing parameters such as Grashof number, viscosity ratio, width ratio and conductivity ratio. The effect of these parameters on the physical characteristics such as Nusselt number and skin friction at the walls is studied. It is found that Grashof number, viscosity ratio and width ratio enhance the flow whereas, conductivity ratio reduces the flow. Rate of heat transfer and skin friction for varying parameters is also shown graphically. International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology, Vol. 2, No. 6, 2010, pp. 256-277

Abstract:
Accumulating evidence suggests that exposures to elevated levels of either endogenous estrogen or environmental estrogenic chemicals are associated with breast cancer development and progression. These natural or synthetic estrogens are known to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) and increased ROS has been implicated in both cellular apoptosis and carcinogenesis. Though there are several studies on direct involvement of ROS in cellular apoptosis using short-term exposure model, there is no experimental evidence to directly implicate chronic exposure to ROS in increased growth and tumorigenicity of breast cancer cells. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of chronic oxidative stress on growth, survival and tumorigenic potential of MCF-7 breast cancer cells. MCF-7 cells were exposed to exogenous hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as a source of ROS at doses of 25 μM and 250 μM for acute (24 hours) and chronic period (3 months) and their effects on cell growth/survival and tumorigenic potential were evaluated. The results of cell count, MTT and cell cycle analysis showed that while acute exposure inhibits the growth of MCF-7 cells in a dose-dependent manner, the chronic exposure to H2O2-induced ROS leads to increased cell growth and survival of MCF-7 cells. This was further confirmed by gene expression analysis of cell cycle and cell survival related genes. Significant increase in number of soft agar colonies, up-regulation of pro-metastatic genes VEGF, WNT1 and CD44, whereas down-regulation of anti-metastatic gene E-Cadherin in H2O2 treated MCF-7 cells observed in this study further suggests that persistent exposure to oxidative stress increases tumorigenic and metastatic potential of MCF-7 cells. Since many chemotherapeutic drugs are known to induce their cytotoxicity by increasing ROS levels, the results of this study are also highly significant in understanding the mechanism for adaptation to ROS-induced toxicity leading to acquired chemotherapeutic resistance in breast cancer cells.

Abstract:
A UPQC consists of a series voltage-source converter (VSC) and a shunt VSC both joined together by a common dc bus. This paper proposes a new connection for a unified power quality conditioner (UPQC) to improve the power quality of two feeders in a distribution system. It is demonstrated how this device is connected between two independent feeders to regulate the bus voltage of one of the feeders while regulating the voltage across a sensitive load in the other feeder. Since the UPQC is connected between two different feeders (lines), this connection of the UPQC will be called an interline UPQC (IUPQC). This paper gives the structure; control and capability of the IUPQC under some special conditions like sag has been created in feeder 1 and 2 are discussed. The efficiency of the proposed configuration has been verified through simulation studies using MATLAB

Abstract:
Inflammation plays an imperative role in pathophysiology of various diseases. Sida rhombifolia L. (Malvaceae), commonly known as Atibala is traditionally used for numerous medicinal purposes in India. The present study was carried out to demonstrate the in vivo anti-inflammatory effect of aqueous and ethanolic extract of Sida rhombifolia L. root using Wistar rats by carrageenan induced acute inflammatory paw edema method. Preliminary phytochemical screening and acute toxicity test were performed for aqueous and ethanolic extracts. Both aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Sida rhombifolia L. root at the dose rate of 200, 400 and 600 mg/ kg body weight were evaluated for anti-inflammatory property. Indomethacin at the rate of 5 mg/ kg body weight was employed as reference drug. Phytochemical screening of aqueous and ethanolic extracts revealed the presence of phenolic compounds, flavonoids, tannins and glycoside. Ethanolic extract was also indicated for the presence of steroids, alkaloids and terpenes. Acute toxicity testing upto 2000 mg/ kg body weight did not show any toxicity in rats. Sida rhombifolia L. root extract produced significant (P< 0.05) and a dose dependent anti-inflammatory activity. The time dependent inhibition of oedema was observed starting from 2 hours. The ethanolic extract produced most effective inhibition of edema. Our findings revealed that Sida rhombifolia L. root extract contribute to the reduction of the inflammatory response which validates the use of the extract in traditional medicine for treating inflammatory conditions

Abstract:
A reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed, validated, and used for the quantitative determination of gatifloxacin (GA) and ambroxol hydrochloride (AM), from its tablet dosage form. Chromatographic separation was performed on a Thermo Hypersil Keystone ODS C18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm), with a mobile phase comprising of a mixture of phosphate buffer and acetonitrile (60:40, v/v), and pH adjusted to 3 with ortho phosphoric acid, at a flow rate of 1 mL/min, with detection at 250 nm. Separation was completed in less than 10 min. As per International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) guidelines the method was validated for linearity, accuracy, precision, limit of quantitation,limit of detection, and robustness. Linearity of GA was found to be in the range of 20–100 μg/mL and that for AM was found to be 5–15 μg/mL. The correlation coefficients were 0.9989 and 0.9966 for GA and AM respectively. The results of the tablet analysis (n= 5) were found to be 99.86% and 100.09% for GA and AM respectively. Percent recovery of GA was found to be 98.2%–101.02% and that of AM was 98.86%–102.05%. The assay experiment shows that the method is free from interference of excipients. This demonstrates that the developed HPLC method is simple, linear, precise, and accurate, and can be conveniently adopted for the routine quality control analysis of the tablet.

Abstract:
The geographical position of Maharashtra state makes it rather essential to study the dispersal of modern humans in South Asia. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the cultural, linguistic and geographical affinity of the populations living in Maharashtra state with other South Asian populations. The genetic origin of populations living in this state is poorly understood and hitherto been described at low molecular resolution level.